The PPP and Guyanese Indians: Malcolm Harripaul’s masterpiece of political analysis

Here is something that is very hard to come by. Search the entire internet, you won’t find it. It was recently given to me by an acquaintance. Some of you would have seen and read it years ago. In my opinion, it is timeless and a must read for anyone interested in Guyanese political history – which is all of us.

Malcolm Harripaul (MH) has more balls (and honesty!) than all the Guyanese Indian politicians and ‘Indian rights activists’ put together. The man tells it like it is, or rather (since he deals with past events in the article) the way it was. In just about ten pages, MH did what it took Dr. Mohan Ragbeer two massive volumes (“The indelible Red Stain”) to do – which is incisively and succinctly set out how Cheddi and Janet Jagan and their PPP did a head job on Guyanese Indians and badly let them down.

What is most impressive is this. MH is not a noted academic. He does not have a string of degrees. I am not sure if he ever attended a university. But he has a very clear mind (clearer than many so called ‘intellectuals’ and ‘academics’), gathers and presents his facts chronologically, meticulously and comprehensively and comes to conclusions that are convincing and unavoidable. Most admirable.

To GNI’s non-Indian members: MH’s long paper is written from an Indian perspective, so we can get that out of the way now. That said, he is fair and does not vilify black people. His focus is on the disconnect between the Jagan’s / the PPP and its Indian supporters, how Jagan royally screwed up and the catastrophic consequences it had on Guyanese Indians and, indeed, on Guyana as a whole. Malcolm’s paper gives the historical / political background, explains how Guyana became (and still is) a basket case and why most of us (nearly half of all Guyanese actually) live outside of Guyana today.

GNI MEMBERS: Threads come and go and the GNI archive only goes back a few years. One day, this thread and this article will disappear. So, here is your chance. Copy and save this article into a Word doc to keep forever and / or copy and paste it into an email and share and discuss it with you family, friends and email contacts. It is that important.

In responding to MH’s essay, try to be fair, balanced, objective and nuanced. Even if you are a die-hard PPP supporter, avoid knee jerk, dismissive, and ‘black and white’ reactions. Give credit where it is due. Yes, Burnham was bad, in many ways. He and his PNC ruled fraudulently and damaged Guyana severely and irreparably. The question is: who made Burnham’s rule possible? Who had majority support? Who was a shoo-in for national leader? Who dropped the ball? Who screwed up? Who had it all on a silver platter but - through ideological dogma, rigidity, blindness, dogged allegiance to the USSR and the Communist bloc, selfishness, ego, foolishness and stubbornness - threw it all away? That is the question.

ADMIN / AMRAL / RAY: I respect you guys. I don’t really know where you stand on these issues but I ask you to recognize the importance of MH’s essay and to consider pinning this thread to the top of the board for a few weeks, so that all members and visitors to this site can have a chance to read and digest MH’s article and take a copy for themselves, if they want to.

I don’t know MH but I am sure he won’t mind, as his article is in the public domain, is in the national interest and is clearly attributed to him at the end. His masterpiece neatly explains and sums up the historical / political background and reasons for the Guyana tragedy - better and more cogently than anyone else, in my opinion.

Why is it that whenever you speak with some Indians about our problems in Guyana and you try to explain why our people are being given a raw deal they always accuse you of being racist? And if you should tell them that Indians deserve much more of the national patrimony they defensively ask, "What about the Africans?" How did Indians develop such a self-destructive attitude?

To understand the Indian confusion one must peruse our history from 1900 to 1948 and from 1948 to the present. One will find that from 1900 to 1948 there were many Indian intellectuals and leaders who understood that Indians and Africans would compete with each other to replace the British rulers and that Indians needed to prepare for political participation. Towards that end, they formed several Indian organizations that championed Indian interests.

Those Indian organizations and their leaders were discouraged by the PPP in the period 1948 to 1964 and the PPP replaced Indian consciousness with Marxism- Leninism. The PPP deliberately ignored Indian historiography and Indians were led to believe that our history and struggles started in 1948 with Dr. Jagan.

The aim of this essay is to briefly outline how the PPP developed and perfected its chokehold on Indians in Guyana.

ETHNIC CONSCIOUSNESS

People are always conscious of themselves as a distinct group. As children, we readily see the physical differences between people and that such characteristics make us either Indian or African. As adults, we learn of more differences in culture, values, ethics, education and religion. We do not have to have a formal education to form rudimentary ethnic consciousness. It comes to us naturally. Such consciousness is usually developed by our educated people.

Our intellectuals and leaders are the ones who explain, define, and refine our ethnic identity. It is they who will develop and advance our ethnic consciousness. Our leaders will articulate our ethnic interests and form organizations to advance and to champion our causes in the political arena. In this respect Africans got a head start on Indians.

AFRICAN ETHNIC CONSCIOUSNESS

Even during slavery, the mulattoes and coloured people received an education that enabled them to enter mainstream society and politics. When Africans were freed in 1838, they moved to the townships and made full use of the educational opportunities available there. By the early 1900's, the Africans had an educated class and had entered the professions and civil service in large numbers.

The African intellectuals and middle class formed ethnic organizations that defined and advanced their ethnic consciousness and interests. They had already entered the political arena and they quickly perceived Indians as a threat to their economic and political status quo. They were particularly outraged at the policy of importing Indians into the colony and waged a campaign to stop it.

So determined were they that they took advantage of Indian unrest at Diamond in 1924 to lead Indians to a slaughter at Ruimveldt in April that year. Indians were encouraged by the BGLU to march to Georgetown in "unity” with African workers. However the Africans who were in the vanguard soon petered out of the protest and left the Indians in front to be gunned down. Twelve Indians were killed on that day by the police.

The Ruimveldt Massacre, coming so soon after the Amritsar Massacre in India in April 1919, led to loud protests in India and a decision was taken to shelve the Colonisation Scheme thereby preventing the likelihood of Indians becoming two thirds of the population and the Africans becoming a small minority, as was the objective of J. A. Luckhoo and other Indian scholars who had supported the scheme.

INDIAN ETHNIC CONSCIOUSNESS

At the time of the Ruimveldt Massacre, Indians had by then begun to educate their children in large numbers. However there was already a significant educated class of Indians, as well as a bourgeoning Indian middle class. Indian intellectuals led by Joseph Ruhomon were shaping our ethnic consciousness and advancing our cause.

The East Indian Young Men Society was a forum that enabled Indian intellectuals to debate and write on Indian issues. Those leaders included Joseph and Peter Ruhomon, J.A. Luckhoo, C.R. Jacob, K.P. Das, and Ayube Edun. The list is long. Those were just a few of our early scholars. Those Indians entered the professions of law, medicine, engineering and education. Their accomplishments led to a greater effort by Indians to get their children an education.

According to Professor Clem Seecharran in his book "Tiger in the Stars," the Indian educated and middle class achievements evoked fierce racial pride in the poorer Indians who embraced the farmer's accomplishments as their own. When J.A. Luckhoo was re-elected to the Combined Court in 1921 a group of poor Indians congratulated him on "being the only member of our race in such a position."

Indians in the first part of the century already saw themselves as a distinct ethnic group. As an ethnic group, it did not see itself in terms of who were poor and who were rich or who were exploiting whom. The poor Indians were not envious of the wealthy and educated ones, but took pride in their successes, and saw them as the standard to which they or their children must aspire.

ENTER THE PPP INTO INDIAN LIFE

In 1947 Dr. Cheddi Jagan joined the ranks of an established Indian educated class when he returned to Guyana as a dentist. Unfortunately, he had married Janet Rosenburg in the USA. She was a member of a notorious communist family who had just witnessed its members, Julius and Ethel, being convicted and executed for espionage against the USA. Dr. Jagan's uncle and aunt-in-laws had stolen the atomic secret and passed it to Communist Russia.

Janet and Cheddi made no secret of their communist beliefs, an ideology so alien to Indian culture, that it is a mystery how they took control of Indians. They did so by a combination of factors which I shall now deal with.

Organization.

The Indian intellectuals and middle class formed organizations that operated largely in the city. Their activities were restricted to mainstream society where, in response to their African counterparts, they took part in debates and wrote articles for the press and journals. They also took Indian grievances to the Immigration Agent and other authorities.

The main organization was the British Guiana East Indian Association. Its membership comprised mainly the educated and middle class. It was a small organization that dealt with social, economic and political issues as they affected Indians. It was not a political party and did not field candidates at elections. It, however, supported Indians who contested elections.

Dr. Jagan joined the BGEIA where he sought to introduce Marxism-Leninism, but he was rebuffed by the Indian intellectuals who warned that as an ideology it was alien to Indian culture and beliefs, and that politically it was suicidal. Dr. Jagan left the BGEIA and formed the Political Affairs Committee in 1947. It operated mainly in Georgetown where they developed a small but strong group of communist cadres. They followed Lenin's handbook, “How to organize the masses”. None of the Indian intellectuals and leaders were members of the PAC.

In keeping with Lenin's handbook, they set about organizing a mass party, which is a communist concept. It was named the Peoples Progressive Party and its bureaucratic structure was laid out as in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It was organized throughout the country and it targeted the poor and uneducated Indians. It was the first party that organized the masses at the grass root level. It became a large party of predominantly working people led by a cadre of hard core Communists.

Destruction of the Indian intellectuals.

The Indian intellectuals were wary of the PPP because of its communist ideology and because of its anti-American posture in a cold war environment. They saw communism as being anti-Indian in nature and the PPP's anti-imperialist stance as dangerous and inimical to the interests of Indians.

The PPP was quick to label any Indian who did not join the PPP as opportunists who were allied with the oppressors. A good example of the way the PPP saw independent Indians can be found on page of 108 of the West On Trial. This is what was written of Debedin, a solicitor and trade unionist, “he flirted with the PPP but thinking we could not win, moved away."

The implication is that Debedin was an opportunist who, if he thought the PPP could win, would have stayed in the PPP. However Dr. Jagan shot himself in the foot, as he was so wont to do, by writing in the same breath, "He (Debedin) could have joined the NDP which was nearer to him ideologically; but that party already had its hierarchy established and, moreover it was too African oriented for him."

So one can safely conclude that Debedin did not subscribe to the PPP's ideology of communism. We can see too that Debedin was apparently interested in being in the leadership of the PPP but due to his non-belief in Marxism-Leninism he could not have been facilitated. Dr. Jagan also saw Debedin as having Indian interests at heart, hence his observation that the NDP was too African oriented for him.

Twenty eight years later, in 1992, Dr. Jagan would deny Mr. Ravi Dev membership to the PPP because he was not a communist and in 1999 the General Secretary of the PPP Mr. Donald Ramoutar would declare that his party could not work with ROAR because their views were ideologically incompatible.

Ethnic vs working class consciousness.

The PPP discouraged and subsequently almost destroyed Indian consciousness. It preached working class consciousness. Indians were told that the capitalists oppressed both Indians and Africans, both of whom comprised the working class, and that only working class unity could defeat the exploiters. Indians were exhorted not to think as Indians but as members of the working class.

As recent as May 28th, 2000 at the GIFT symposium in Georgetown, PPP executive member Mr. Ralph Ramkarran, speaking on behalf of his party, said "the PPP has always sought to overcome the negative political dimensions of ethnic identification by advocating working class unity as a basis for national unity." In other words, it was negative for Indians to think of themselves as an ethnic group. Here is an example taken from the West on Trial of how Indian leaders were viewed by the PPP.

Dr. Jagan attacked Indian leaders and Pandits as racists. This is how he described Indian views on page 114 of the West on Trial, "Crude religious and racist appeals were made by the Hindu Pandits and Debedin's United Farmers and Workers Party." He also wrote that the Muslims too attacked the PPP. Of course, in the long term, the Indian, Hindu and Muslim leaders were right in their reasons for opposing the PPP, but I will deal with that later.

Abrogation of Indian History.

The Enmore Massacre of 8 Indians on 16th June 1948 could not have come at a better time for Dr. Jagan. He capitalized on the event and, there being no other Indian leader who could match his charisma and sincerity, he endeared himself to the huge crowds of Indians who gathered over the next few days. He had the perfect platform on which to sell himself as the Indian leader.

Subsequently, the PPP never referred to the other occasions when Indians were massacred, in some cases far worse than the one at Enmore. Soon, as Professor Clem Seecharran pointed out in a talk in Canada on 10-23-99, people came to believe that Indians were only killed at Enmore and that our struggles began with Enmore and that Cheddi Jagan was the first and only Indian leader produced by the Indian community.

Indians came to view Enmore as the beginning of our struggles and Dr. Jagan as the leader who stood up to the oppressors. The PPP in office in the 1950's and early 1960's never saw it fit to have Indian History taught in the schools, and never encouraged the writing of our history. This led to generations of Indians being moulded the PPP way.

Independence and Radicalism

The Indian leaders and organizations were not radicals. They did not subscribe to the notion of destroying the institutions established by Britain. They believed it was best to learn how to govern themselves by working with the British rather than fight them. It is not that they did not want Independence for Guyana; they did, but they thought the better way to achieve Independence was to agitate quietly within the establishment rather than to engage in antagonistic mass activities.

Our Indian leaders' strategy was shaped by the Cold War that soon followed the end of the Second World War. By then, Britain had lost the will to maintain its empire and it was inevitable that all the colonies would be freed, once they conformed to the Capitalist Ideology. Many political leaders, especially in the Caribbean, adopted the strategy of working with the British to prepare themselves for Independence.

Our leaders quiet struggle for Independence in the 1940's was confined to the City and more so in the confines of the civil society. The consequence was that the masses in the rural areas were to a large extent excluded from the process.

Dr. Jagan and the PPP were quite the opposite to the conservative Indian leaders. The PPP set out on a radical path to achieve Independence. It organized the masses and included them in countrywide marches and demonstrations. It labelled the institutions as tools of oppression and embarked on an aggressive and antagonistic campaign for Independence.

Dr. Jagan's firebrand type of politics against the British quickly endeared him to the ordinary people who saw him as their champion. He was different from the other leaders and his valour against the colonialists evoked some sort of romanticism in the people. He quickly became THE LEADER.

THE PNC AND AFRICANS

Forbes Burnham was even more charismatic than Jagan and, more importantly, while he was a leftist of some sort, he was not a communist like Dr. Jagan. On the recommendation of the British Communist Party, Dr. Jagan had recruited him into the PPP in order to have an African leader. Burnham tried to take over the leadership of the party in 1953 and he led the Africans in a splinter group in 1955. He named his party the Peoples National Congress in 1957.

Burnham's PNC incorporated the League of Coloured People and the National Democratic Party, both of which were anti-communist, and more importantly had all the African intellectuals. Burnham did not destroy the African intellectuals, nor did he deny Africans their history. He did not preach working class consciousness and working class unity.

Whilst Burnham paid lip service to socialist rhetoric, he fostered African ethnic consciousness and when in power he actively encouraged the historiography of Africans and, even today, African History is taught in schools as Guyanese History to the exclusion of Indian History. This contributed to Indians being led at an early age to believe that they did not contribute to the development of Guyana and therefore had no right to the national patrimony. Indians were conditioned to belief that Africans had overriding rights over all other ethnic groups.

HISTORY PROVED THE INDIAN LEADERS CORRECT

History has shown that in the long term Messrs. Balram Singh Rai, Debedin, Dr. J.B. Singh, and a host of other Indian leaders were right to oppose the PPP and Communism. Dr. Jagan had given them three labels: reactionaries, opportunists and racists.

The "reactionaries and opportunists" warned that Dr. Jagan's obsession with Marxism in the Cold War era was dangerous and he would invoke the wrath of the British and Americans, and they were right. In response to his anti-imperialist posture, the "imperialists" suspended the Constitution in October 1953.

One would have thought that Dr. Jagan would have learnt his lesson and abandon his obsession with communism, as did the rest of the Caribbean leaders, but he did not. Put back into office in 1957 by Indian votes, he again defied the "Imperialists" by forging close ties with the USA's arch enemy Fidel Castro, and the CIA promptly destabilized him in favour of the PNC and Africans.

It was because of the PPP's obsession with communism that it locked itself out of Government in 1964, when it declined the UF's offer of coalition because the UF was capitalist. The PPP offered a coalition with the PNC but it refused the PPP's hand and instead teamed up with the UF. The Americans supported the PNC in Government and allowed it to consistently rig elections to keep the PPP out.

The PPP was the cause of rigged elections in Guyana. So committed was the PPP to Socialism that it gave critical support to the PNC in 1975, begged to form a National Front Government with the PNC in 1977 and held power sharing talks with the PNC after the assassination of Walter Rodney. In spite of the obvious domination, subjugation and oppression of Indians by the PNC, the PPP supported the PNC because of its communist ideology.

The PPP was kept in the political wilderness until 1992, by which time the Cold War had ended in capitalist victory and communism being no longer a threat to the free world, the II Imperialists" kindly forced the PNC to hold free and fair elections.

On the ideological front, the World Communist Movement fell apart. The bastion of communism, Russia, after 70 years of Proletariat rule, could not feed itself, and its Working Class had to depend on II Imperialist" charity to survive. Even India had to pitch in with supplies of wheat and rice. All the former communist countries of the Soviet empire scrambled to establish capitalism in place of communism.

The "racists" were also opposed to communism on the ground that it was anti- Indian. They opposed working class consciousness replacing Indian consciousness. They also warned that Burnham was a “snake”, who would betray Cheddi and impose African rule. Burnham did break away from the PPP and helped to topple it from Government. He went on to create an African dictatorship that lasted 28 years.

It could be argued to that the PPP's obsession with communism caused the delay of Guyana's Independence, and that when it was granted, it was deliberately done so only when the PPP was out of the way. It could be said too that it was the PPP's recklessness that paved the way for the PNC to marginalize Indians in Guyana.

HOW DID THE PPP MAINTAIN ITS HOLD ON INDIANS AFTER 1964?

One would have thought that in the aftermath of the violence against Indians in the early 1960's Indians would have learnt that the PPP was more concerned with Marxism-Leninism rather than with Indians and would have rejected that Party, but Indians clung steadfastly to the PPP. How did the PPP manage to do this?

For all its talk of working class consciousness and unity the PPP knew that ethnic consciousness was supreme, but its ideology did not permit it to publicly acknowledge this. It was Dr. Jagan's cognizance of ethnic realities that caused him to rope in Burnham to the PPP, where Dr. Jagan worked amongst Indians and Burnham did so amongst Africans.

When Burnham led the Africans out of the PPP, it was clear that the working class coalition had failed. The PPP was left with only Indians as its base. In order to survive, it had to hold on to the Indians. It did so by appealing to ethnic loyalty at bottom house meetings. Due to the circumstances after the PPP fell, Indians had no other choice but to continue supporting the PPP. The PPP also adopted a rifled [sic?] approach at controlling Indians. The GAWU held a grip on sugar workers, the RPA on rice farmers, the Dharmic Sabha on Hindus, and the PYO on students.

Alter 1964, Indians had no other party to turn to. All the Indian organizations and leaders had been effectively discredited by the PPP. What made it easier for the PPP to hold the Indians was Burnham's anti-Indian actions when he took office.

The Africans quickly set about monopolizing all the institutions, to the exclusion of Indians. Rice farmers in particular suffered as Burnham moved to wreck the industry, in order to force Indians out of the country in an effort to create an African majority. The PPP responded by stoutly defending Indians, whilst on the other hand it supported the PNC’s socialist thrust, completely oblivious that it was the Socialist initiatives that were being used to oppress Indians.

However the PPP did not defend Indians as Indians. It very rarely attacked the PNC saying that that party discriminated against Indians and perhaps only did so at bottom house meetings. It would say that farmers were being discriminated against, or that sugar workers were suffering, or that businessmen were being squeezed. In public it almost never used the word Indian. It only did so privately. The PPP conditioned Indians not to publicly assert themselves as Indians. Soon it became taboo to say that you were Indian.

Whilst the PPP gave the impression of defending Indians, it did not allow new Indian organizations to flourish. Any new Indian group was seen as a threat to its political base, something that could not be tolerated. Any Indian leader was painted as a reactionary who would split the Indian vote and side with the PNC. In the 1960’s it was Balram Singh Rai, in the 1970's it was Dr. Gunraj Kumar, in the 1980’s it was Paul Tennessee, and in the late 1990's it was Ravi Dev.

What helped the PPP too was the enlistment of a few Indians in the PNC. The Indians in the PNC were branded as traitors and they were deemed namakharam. Fear of being ostracized and stigmatized also helped to keep the Indians in the PPP. The PPP also used violence and threats to intimidate Indians and to keep them in line.

Even today, the PPP does not allow Indians to dissent. Mr. C.N. Sharma was twice assaulted by PPP activists. Mr. Cobeer Persaud's business was raided by CANU after he defeated the PPP at NOC elections on the E.B.D. A PPP stalwart known as “Cat Eye” of Essequibo Coast was fired after he attended a ROAR meeting. Then there was the infamous PPP rally held in front of Mr. Ravi Dev's home, where they called ROAR's members worms and vowed to crush them.

And the PPP did try to crush ROAR in the 2001 elections campaign. Here are a few instances of PPP violence against Indians in that campaign:

On the East Bank Demerara, a senior PPP official set fire to the ROAR banner and threatened to burn down the homes of several ROAR supporters.

On the Essequibo Coast, the home of the ROAR organizer, who had earlier defected from the PPP, was attacked by PPP elements. His father was killed and his brother was wounded.

On the Corentyne, PPP gunmen opened fire on a party of ROAR activists who were at the time putting up posters in Port Mourant.

On West Coast Berbice, PPP thugs threw missiles at the speakers at a ROAR meeting at Bush Lot.

HOW THE PPP CONFUSED INDIANS

The PPP confused Indians with its official discouragement of ethnic consciousness in favour of working class consciousness. Indians were conditioned by the PPP not to air their ethnic concerns publicly. Indians were being taught that to speak up on behalf of Indians was racism. The Indian soon learned not to express his ethnic concerns publicly least he should be deemed a racist. He was encouraged to do so only in the privacy of his home. That is why he will call an Indian activist a racist.

The concept of working class consciousness and unity also helped to confuse Indians. The Indian was taught that he must not only think of Indians but that he must also remember his African brothers of the working class. He was led to believe that it was wrong to seek benefits for his self and family only. That is why he will always ask," What about the Africans too?" even as he becomes the victim of their social unrest.

The Indian was taught that all the wealthy Indians were Bourgeoisie and, therefore, exploiters and scamps who acquired their wealth in an illegal manner. That is why the Indian, upon hearing of an Indian businessman being shot and robbed would be quite gullible to the PPP's propaganda, “Oh he was doing drugs."

The biggest confusion suffered by Indians was the socialist rhetoric of the PPP. Burnham would repeat the rhetoric but in practice he would implement an anti- Indian measure. The PPP called for nationalization of sugar ­and Burnham complied, but he Africanized the sugar bureaucracy and imposed a levy. The PPP called for a Peoples Militia and Burnham used it as an opportunity to further train and arm the Africans.

The PPP kept calling for Socialism and Burnham used it against the PPP and Indians. Socialist countries were one party States, so he rigged elections and made the PNC paramount. Socialism was for state control so the PNC established the External Trade Bureau (ETB) and Knowledge Sharing Institute (KSI), both of which almost wiped out the Indian wholesalers and retailers. Socialism was for State control of schools so the PNC politicized the education system. Using Socialist rhetoric Burnham also Africanized the Security Forces.

Despite the obvious marginalization of Indians by the PNC, the PPP gave Critical support to the PNC starting in 1975. Point to note: the PPP was the only party to support the PNC.

HAS THE PPP CHANGED?

One would think that in its 28 years in the wilderness the PPP would have learnt from its mistakes, but an examination of its conduct towards Indians since its return to office in 1992 would reveal its continued penchant for being anti-Indian.

"Indians going peacefully about their business were attacked in Georgetown and were mercilessly and savagely beaten. The unruly mobs later roved about the town injuring Indians and damaging their business ... bands of youths and men roaming the streets on foot and bicycle brigades attacking Indians..."

No, that is not a report on January 12th 1998. It is a description of 1964 by Dr. Jagan in the West on Trial, pages 234 and 235. The fact that Indians were again made to suffer a worse fate under the PPP in 1998, when over 30 Indian businessmen were killed, is an indictment that the PPP is incapable of learning and still thinks of Indians as idiots who will keep on voting them into office election after election.

In fact, the Indians again voted the PPP into office in March, 2001. Since then, violence has engulfed East Coast and Georgetown because of the PPP's ineptitude. Scores of Indians have been killed and hundreds more made to endure violence. Hundreds have been forced to evacuate their homes and relocate in other villages. Yet, by the year 2003, the PPP had done nothing to protect its supporters. Yet, the PPP would not heed advice given it since 1990 on how to protect all Guyanese. The PPP surrounded itself with former PNC henchmen who were made National Security Advisers. The PPP discarded the advice of outspoken Indians.

The PPP is suspicious of capable, competent and outspoken Indians. It prefers to deal with Africans or Indians bent on oppressing their fellow Indians.

A classic example of a PPP Indian is Dr. Prem Misir who, as Editor-in-Chief of the Caribbean Journal in January 1998, in an editorial captioned "Where is the evidence?" denied that Indians were brutalized on January 12th, and called Indian Rights activists racists and extremists. (Just as Dr. Jagan did in the 1960's). On 23rd October, 1999, Dr Misir's newspaper published a most scandalous attack on Hinduism, Indian women and Pandits. It was stated that Guyanese Hindus practised womb cleansing where the Pandit would engage in ritual sex with the women in the Mandirs. Three weeks later the PPP rewarded Dr. Misir for his persistent anti-Indian posture by appointing him as a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information.

CONCLUSION

The Indians had by the early 1900's established a history of struggle with several incidents of them being gunned down on the sugar estates by colonial police.

Indians had by then nurtured their own educated and middle class.

Indian scholars had formed several social organizations to foster the development of Indians for roles in civic society and politics.

Indian scholars had developed and refined Indian consciousness and culture.

Indian intellectuals like J. A. Luckhoo and Peter Ruhomon knew that Indians and Africans would one day compete for political power, and that Indians had to be prepared for that eventuality.

By the 1930's and 1940's, the British Guiana East Indian Association had made representation to the British for provisions to be implemented that would recognize Indians as a distinct ethnic and cultural group in Guyana, and that Indians be afforded equitable representation at all levels of the society including the Civil Service and Armed Forces.

7. Dr. Cheddi Jagan returned from the USA in 1946 and he joined the BGEIA. He tried to introduce Marxism-Leninism to the Indian leaders who found it repulsive to Indian culture and beliefs.

8. Dr. Jagan left the BGEIA and he and his wife Janet formed the Political Affairs Committee. It was a hard core Communist organization.

9. Dr. Jagan and the PAC capitalized on the 1948 massacre of Indians at Enmore Estate.

10. The Peoples Progressive Party was formed in 1950, and the Party deliberately ignored Indian historiography, and set about discrediting all Indian leaders and their organizations. In time, Indians came to belief that our history and struggles only began with Dr. Jagan.

11. The PPP won over Indians, but the party replaced ethnic consciousness with that of class. Eventually, Indian consciousness was destroyed.

12. Forbes Burnham did not seek to destroy the African scholars, nor African historiography, nor African consciousness. In fact, the PNC actively promoted all of them.

13. The Indian scholars did not believe in an antagonistic and radical approach to gain Independence from Britain. They believed in working with the British to learn how to govern ourselves since Independence was inevitable. They advised Dr. Jagan to do the same.

14. The PPP adopted an antagonistic approach towards the British.

15. Our Indian leaders believed in Capitalism and all its inherent freedoms.

16. The PPP was a Communist Party that promoted the Soviet Union.

17. The PPP's infatuation with Communism led to the British suspending the Constitution in 1953.

18. The PPP's theory of Class and Working Class Unity fell apart in 1955 when Burnham led the Africans out of the PPP and formed the PNC in 1957. However the PPP still preached class consciousness to the Indians.

19. At the next PPP Congress, Balram Singh Rai won the elections for Chairman of the party, but Mrs. Jagan altered the results and declared an African named Brindley Benn as the Chairman.

20. In 1961, Dr. Jagan reiterated his belief in Communism to US President John F Kennedy who promptly told the British to delay Independence until the PPP was removed from office. The CIA was then directed to oust Dr. Jagan from office.

21. In 1964, Dr. Jagan agreed to change the electoral system from First Past The Post to Proportional Representation. At the elections, Indians gave the PPP the largest bloc of votes. The United Force offered to form a government with the PPP. The PPP rejected the UF on the grounds that it was capitalist.

22. The PPP asked the PNC to form the Government with it but the PNC refused. The PNC did so with the UF.

23. In 1968, the PNC was allowed by the US to rig the elections to keep the PPP out.

24. In 1969, the PPP formally declared itself a Marxist-Leninist Party and set about campaigning vigorously for the PNC to implement Socialism.

25. By The mid 1970's, the PNC had nationalized the "commanding heights of the economy" and had also Africanized the State of Guyana. In the process Indians were marginalized. The PNC had by then incurred the displeasure of the US, but Dr. Jagan and the PPP gave Critical Support to the PNC. The only party to do so.

26. By the latter 1970's, the PNC dictatorship was a naked one. It had degenerated into political violence and assassination. It was under serious threat from the WPA. However, instead of joining forces with the WPA, the PPP offered to form a National Patriotic Front Government with the PNC in 1977. It was the only party to do so.

27. In 1980, the WPA leader Dr. Walter Rodney was assassinated, and the PPP entered into secret Power Sharing talks with the PNC.

28. The power sharing negotiations lasted until 1985 when Burnham died. He was replaced by Hugh Desmond Hoyte who turned Guyana away from the Socialist Path. It was then that the PPP ended the power sharing talks.

29. The Soviet Union and its satellite Socialist States in Eastern Europe collapsed in the late 1980's and the Cold War was over. However, in 2002, the PPP at its Congress reiterated its Marxist-Leninist posture.

30. In 1992, the PPP won the first free and fair elections held since 1964. Since regaining office the PPP, has repeatedly demonstrated that it remains anti-Indian in nature. It has failed to balance the Armed Forces and that is the principal reason that Indians have been systematically decimated by African gunmen.

31. The PPP's blunders, which came about because they are guided by Marxist beliefs, have finally given birth to the situation on the East Coast, where gunmen operating out of Buxton have been killing and maiming Indians almost daily.

"The Ruimveldt Massacre, coming so soon after the Amritsar Massacre in India in April 1919, led to loud protests in India and a decision was taken to shelve the Colonisation Scheme thereby preventing the likelihood of Indians becoming two thirds of the population and the Africans becoming a small minority, as was the objective of J. A. Luckhoo and other Indian scholars who had supported the scheme."

Found the minutes on the hearing of the The Ruimveldt Massacre,will post later.

Quantum, I cannot take you seriously if you gonna give credence to a notorious party pooper and gimmick like MH. He speaks as if the PPP indoctrinated the East Indian population with ideology and sent the western-educated ones in camps to be re-educated like what the Chinese and Cambodians did. We know most Indians in Guyana do not know anything much about Marxist ideology. We know if there was an intellectual class in Guyana it was miniscule and far away from the influence of the PPP. B. Ramharack's book, Going against grain, cited the fact that blacks have an intellectual tradition in Guyana but Indians do not. If what MH's friend is saying is true then it is clear both men cannot be right.

Look at the rudeness of this. A group of immigrants arrive in a country and want their leaders want to displace existing inhabitants. And then they are shocked that those people, who already had issues with the white power structure, would look to this immigrant group with panic.

I would like MH to show that these immigrants tried to work with the local population and were rebuffed.

In fact they wanted an Indian colony and didn't give a bit about the people who they encountered when they arrived. This whole article is very explicit about this. Not from the 1950s (by which time they were Guyanese) but even as early as the late 19th C when they were still an immigrant group, and not one necessarily committed to Guyana either, as many did return to India!

The Indians were still wedded to India, and in fact up to the 1920s many were still not fluent in English. The blacks/coloreds were fully wedded to Guyana, having no "homeland" to return to. So where were they supposed to go when these "Indian rights" people were busy establishing their Indian colony in the then British Guiana? Having spent centuries as 3rd class citizens to the British were they supposed to be the same towards an immigrant group?

I am not sure what the purpose of this article is but it is very alarming in a multi ethnic country like Guyana where no numerically dominant group exists. I put it in the same place as I put Eric Phillips' demand of 15k square miles to be handed over to Afro Guyanese.

mveldt Massacre, coming so soon after the Amritsar Massacre in India in April 1919, led to loud protests in India and a decision was taken to shelve the Colonisation Scheme thereby preventing the likelihood of Indians becoming two thirds of the population and the Africans becoming a small minority, as was the objective of J. A. Luckhoo and other Indian scholars who had supported the scheme.

Guyana East Indians should learn from the Tamil Tigers. The Tamil Tigers fought and defeated several other Tamil groups. Now that the Tamil Tigers have been defeated by the Sri Lankan armed forces there is no other Tamil group left to carry on the fight. Roar and the PPP should have worked together and not oppose each other.

mveldt Massacre, coming so soon after the Amritsar Massacre in India in April 1919, led to loud protests in India and a decision was taken to shelve the Colonisation Scheme thereby preventing the likelihood of Indians becoming two thirds of the population and the Africans becoming a small minority, as was the objective of J. A. Luckhoo and other Indian scholars who had supported the scheme.

Malcolm Harripaul 11-19-99

NB: First written in November 1999 and revised in January 2003

And here we see the real motives about the Indian Colonization plan.

Shut up your stupid ass, racist pig!

Indians just like sexing up dem wifey and mekking nuff nuff pickneys, a tradition brought from India. There was no master plan to colonize anyone!

WHEN Malcolm Harripaul (in the ‘Kaieteur News” dated 2011-05-25), opines that “Mr. Bisram, and Mr. Ravi Dev, are both erring, in referring to the PPP’s regime as “being democratically elected at free and fair elections” and that he (MH) is going to debunk both gentlemen, he evokes laughter. He, Harripaul (being a double joker now), also (in the same breath) suggests that he would “critically examine this position” that is “if the PPP is a democratic institution, and if Indo- Guyanese were really free from fear.”Let this response be premised on the suggestion that if ever one wants to comment on the idea of a ‘lack of democracy’ and its corollary, ‘lack of fairness,’ then any ingenuous effort will start with the Burnham/Hoyte led PNC’s tenure as the government of Guyana. One remembers well the pre-1992 era, especially in matters pertaining to elections. This epoch remains a ludicrous page in the annals of Guyana’s history. So beaten back was the anti-PNC clique that there was a dreadful atmosphere pervading and suffocating this land. During this period, elections were reduced to a farce. So that is a good pivot for Malcolm Harripaul to begin his exegesis on ‘democracy’ and ‘fairness.’

Secondly, the mere fact, that since 1992, elections in Guyana have been certified ‘fair and free’ and characterised by ‘transparency’ is sufficient to rebuff the ‘nonsense’ that is now being dispensed, not only by Malcolm Haripaul, but by members of his ilk. So how does Malcolm Harripaul try to ‘pull the wool’ over the people’s eye?He goes into a territory, and speaks for people who snicker at him. He tries to insinuate that the PPP’s presidential candidate Donald Ramotar was simply forced into this position and then foisted onto the people. What he foolishly does is try to represent a constituency that does not exist. It is so simple and obvious: if there was and is bickering within the PPP, regarding the choice of Donald Ramotar, then how does one account for the continued gelling of the PPP and its gathering momentum for the upcoming elections?

So the stupidity and the fallacy of one only “has to look at the manner in which the PPP presidential candidate was imposed on the PPP membership and Indo Guyanese to see how undemocratic the PPP is” is really Malcolm Harripaul’s evincing his penchant for caviling and carping.This brings to mind the contretemps of Freddie Kissoon. When Freddie Kissoon was asked by Christopher Ram, to explain how he feels, knowing, realising and experiencing fighting for a cause that is seemingly imagined, and for a people who seem least bothered (the garbage situation), he sought refuge in his philosophising. It is really laughable that Malcolm Harripaul is representing disgruntled PPP elites and PPP Indo-based supporters who really do not exist. One can only surmise that in wild, childish fantasy, a group of imaginary people are asking Malcolm Harripaul to represent them.If the elections were all fair, free and transparent, and the PPP’s presidential choice sits well with the supporters and there seems to be a spirit of cohesion, then how is it that this imagined issue comes to the fore? Malcolm Harripaul needs to get real and accept what he is ‘mad’ against, when it is just.The second issue of “… (wanting) to expose the inherent, hidden racism in Bisram’s letter” when Bisram noted “… the struggle (of Hinds and Ogunseye) (but how that) does not give them the right to advocate lawlessness and violence against an elected government,” Malcolm Harripaul accuses Bisram of “…hide (in) under the cloak of impartiality and fairness in order to state a blatant lie about Ogunseye and Hinds.” and that “ His (Bisram’s) intention is to reinforce the PPP’s demonisation of Ogunseye and Hinds,” is another laughing matter.So yes, according to Malcolm Harripaul, he did listen to Ogunseye’s speech on Demerara Waves and (that) he (Ogunseye), did not call for lawlessness and violence. This view of Malcolm Harripaul is not the popular one, and has been shattered many times. And Malcolm Harripaul should explain how devoid of incendiary and inflammatory content is an address that he listened to, that suggests, that even if the PPP should win (fairly freely and transparently), Afro-Guyanese take to the streets and count on the support of the army and police, since they will be banked on for support of their ‘kith and kin’. One can add that in suggesting this, Ogunseye’s assessment of his own people is that they are unwilling to accept democracy in a fair, free and transparent setting. So Malcolm Harripaul is way off.

mveldt Massacre, coming so soon after the Amritsar Massacre in India in April 1919, led to loud protests in India and a decision was taken to shelve the Colonisation Scheme thereby preventing the likelihood of Indians becoming two thirds of the population and the Africans becoming a small minority, as was the objective of J. A. Luckhoo and other Indian scholars who had supported the scheme.

Malcolm Harripaul 11-19-99

NB: First written in November 1999 and revised in January 2003

And here we see the real motives about the Indian Colonization plan.

Shut up your stupid ass, racist pig!

Indians just like sexing up dem wifey and mekking nuff nuff pickneys, a tradition brought from India. There was no master plan to colonize anyone!

If you are too illiterate or ignorant that cannot be helped.

FACT. There was a plan to set up an Indian colony.

FACT. The motive was to ensure the dominance of Guyana throughout flooding the colony with Indian immigrants.

FACT. Those who sponsored the plan didn't care a bit for these indentures and as a result the Indian gov't stopped it.

Indians just like sexing up dem wifey and mekking nuff nuff pickneys, a tradition brought from India. There was no master plan to colonize anyone!

If you are too illiterate or ignorant that cannot be helped.

FACT. There was a plan to set up an Indian colony.

FACT. The motive was to ensure the dominance of Guyana throughout flooding the colony with Indian immigrants.

FACT. Those who sponsored the plan didn't care a bit for these indentures and as a result the Indian gov't stopped it.

Listen dummy, don't cuss Indians for a PLAN the Brits had which the Indian Gov't torpedoed. Now, go back and claim your space there rather than cussing and robbing someone of their space here! Or go cuss the Queen!

Listen dummy, don't cuss Indians for a PLAN the Brits had which the Indian Gov't torpedoed. Now, go back and claim your space there rather than cussing and robbing someone of their space here! Or go cuss the Queen!

The plan was developed by the East Indian leadership who solicited the British gov't for support. If you cannot read don't comment.

there were plans for water power [hydro electric] building a railway linking British Guiana to Manaus Brazil,increased agricultural production...etc..,there was plan to increase Sugar Production to 1,000,000 tons.

To achieve this labor was needed,where can this labor found ? their thoughts then was India.Their idea to get the labor was to make British Guiana an Indian Colony due to East Indian Indenture was ceased in 1927.

There was a lot of mistrust about the Scheme,some see it as a back door to increase Indian labor in the colonies after East Indian Indenture was ceased in 1927.At that time Ghandi had influence in Indian immigration matters.

I would like to add other owners of plantations was also involved in the Scheme,from Court of Policy documents there was no objection by the locals.[ difficulty to upload]

The idea flopped and the rest about Guyana is history.

Me thinks the latter politicians Jagan and Burnham,knew about the Luckhoo-Nunan Scheme,they stole the development plans,one of the reasons the scheme wasn't discussed during their time.

Listen dummy, don't cuss Indians for a PLAN the Brits had which the Indian Gov't torpedoed. Now, go back and claim your space there rather than cussing and robbing someone of their space here! Or go cuss the Queen!

The plan was developed by the East Indian leadership who solicited the British gov't for support. If you cannot read don't comment.

So what's your point? As I said, if you feel that strongly regarding your "space" down there, then pack up you grip and go take up your passion. Your brothers waiting for you!

Sorry baseman but MH cracked the truth in that Luckhood scheme. It was to ensure that the Indian population began to outnumber the combined black and colored populations. The black and colored organizations sniffing a rat then demanded that immigration from the Caribbean also be encouraged.

Clearly it was cheaper to bring in workers from Jamaica, which at the time had massive migration if labor shortages were the only issue. Clearly a political issue of ethnic dominance was the main goal.

Guyana's polarization of the two major races,fighting for turf came when Jagan and Burnham entered politics.

It will be disingenuous to link Luckhoo-Nunan Scheme with present day politics.

Just my two cents.

In fact this race for dominance came long before Burnham and Jagan, which is why it was possible, because the seeds were already there.

If importing labor was the main focus then sources of labor closer to Guyana would have been tapped. Bringing people all the way from India under the terms that Luckhoo wanted was expensive. So what was his motive for this singular source?

Guyana's polarization of the two major races,fighting for turf came when Jagan and Burnham entered politics.

It will be disingenuous to link Luckhoo-Nunan Scheme with present day politics.

Just my two cents.

In fact this race for dominance came long before Burnham and Jagan, which is why it was possible, because the seeds were already there.

If importing labor was the main focus then sources of labor closer to Guyana would have been tapped. Bringing people all the way from India under the terms that Luckhoo wanted was expensive. So what was his motive for this singular source?

I will disagree with the highlighted statement,from what i read there were no race dominance between the locals,the Plantation Owners were in control.There were not many Associations,notably there was the BGEIA and the Sugar Producers Association.

Regarding to tap of labor from the Caribbean,that will be for another research.After the ban on Indian Indentured Labor,Immigrants was sought from the coast of Africa.

Also after Emancipation of Slavery there were economic decline on the plantations in British Guiana,hence the Indentured Laborers scheme started and the economy was reinvigorated.

Sorry baseman but MH cracked the truth in that Luckhood scheme. It was to ensure that the Indian population began to outnumber the combined black and colored populations. The black and colored organizations sniffing a rat then demanded that immigration from the Caribbean also be encouraged.

Clearly it was cheaper to bring in workers from Jamaica, which at the time had massive migration if labor shortages were the only issue. Clearly a political issue of ethnic dominance was the main goal.

Sorry Caribj, I frankly don't give a shyte. As I said, if you feel that strongly about your space there, then go and take up possession. Its still there, all 83k Sq miles. I'm sure Granger could fit you in easy!

BTW, the Indian population did outnumber the others without Guyana's Hindustan! As I said, we sex up we women and dem get nuff nuff pickney!